"Won't be long until we reach Black Moon City." Rukia said. They walked through a forest and was getting closer and closer to Black Moon City. Suddenly, they were all lifted in the air by some net. However, with all the weight that was in it, the net broke apart and caused them to crash on the ground.

"What happened?!" Ichigo said.

"I think we stepped into a trap." Rukia said.

"Who would leave a trap like this?" Orihime said.

"Misdreavous!" They all looked up and saw a Misdreavous in the air, but Misdreavous looked surprise to see them in there.

"A Misdreavous?" Chad said.

"What's it doing?" Rukia said.

"Oh my!" They all looked to see a man who looks like he's been living out here for a while with shaggy brown hair, broken glasses, facial hair, and the camping attire. "I'm so sorry. The trap is for someone else." This is a strange situation they got themselves in.

Pokemon

No time to question my moves

I stick to the path that I choose

Me and my friends are gonna do it right

You'll never see us runaway from a fight

To be a master is my dream

All I have to do is believe

(I believe)

I'm on a master quest

(Master quest)

I'm on my way to victory

I can be a champion if I just believe

I'm on a master quest

(Master quest)

I want the whole world to see

(I believe)

I'm gonna be the very best

Cause all I have to do is believe in me

Pokemon!

(Ichigo's voice) Step, Step, Ralts

Our heroes are continuing their journey. They were heading for Black Moon City for Ichigo's next gym battle, but it seems like they hit a detour.

"I'm so sorry." The man said. After being free from the net, the man and his Misdreavous took Ichigo and his friends back to the cabin and tried apologizing for his actions. "My name is Gilbert. I'm the one who set that trap, but I didn't think anyone would come by."

"What's the big idea setting up a trap in the first place?" Ichigo asked.

"It is rather strange and curious." Rukia said.

"Let me explain." Gilbert said as he pulled out a photo of his wife and daughter. "I'm out here for my precious little girl."

"Your daughter?" Orihime said.

"It all started a few months ago." Gilbert said. "I was just a simple business man. My little girl's birthday is coming up. When I asked her what she might like for her birthday, she told me that what she wanted was a Ralts."

"A Ralts? She wants a pokemon?" Rukia said.

"Ralts are small and friendly pokemon. I didn't think it would be a problem." Gilbert said. "I took some time off of work and came to these woods to find a Ralts. I didn't really know much about being a trainer, so I thought it would be easy. However, it wasn't." He remembered that when he got to the forest, he instantly found a Ralts. When he found it, he just threw a pokeball, but Ralts just disappeared. "That Ralts has the ability to teleport. I tried again and again for months, but I just kept wasting pokeballs."

"It's not easy to catch every pokemon." Rukia said. "You can't just throw a pokeball. You need to weaken it first.'

"I know. During my time here, I studied and learned more about catching a pokemon." Gilbert said. "I was able to catch Misdreavous here."

"Misdreavous."

"I figured it could help me catch that Ralts, but that Ralts keeps teleporting away." Gilbert said. "I'm worried that I'm going to let my daughter down."

"How much time do you have left before her birthday?" Orihime asked.

"It's actually tomorrow." Gilbert said with all of them getting shocked.

"That means that this could be your last chance." Orihime said.

"That's why I need to get it done today." Gilbert said. "If I don't, I'm afraid of going back to my daughter as a failure." All of them could see he was in a tough situation. They felt bad for him and wanted to do something.

"If you want, we can help you." Orihime said as she voiced what all of them were thinking.

"We've had plenty of experience catching pokemon. How hard can it be to capture one little Ralts?" Ichigo said.

"You would really help?! Thank you!" Gilbert said. With their help, Gilbert just might pull this off and make it back in time for his daughter's birthday.

...

Later

With help from the others, Gilbert feels like he can catch Ralts for sure this time. He and his Misdreavous stood out in front of the cabin and waited for Ralts to show up.

"Ralts! Come out! Let's battle again!" Gilbert said as he hoped Ralts would come out. He heard something moving around in the bushes and spotted Ralts coming out.

"Ralts?"

"There you are! You're mine this time! Misdreavous, Psywave!" Gilbert said. Misdreavous unleashed a psychic energy wave, but Ralts jumped out of the way and tried running for it, but that wasn't going to be so easy. Absol jumped in the way and kept Ralts from going anywhere.

"Sorry, Ralts. You're not escaping. Absol, Night Slash!" Ichigo said.

"Absol!" Absol readied the attack and was about to hit, but Ralts used Protect and was able to stop the attack. When Ralts blocked the attack, it tried to run off again, but Sylveon and Orihime got in the way.

"I'm sorry about this. Sylveon, Fairy Wind!" Orihime said. Sylveon twirled her ribbons around and was able to hit Ralts with the attack. That was right when Sableye and Cryogonal came out with Chad and Rukia.

"Sableye, Shadow Claw!" Chad said.

"Cryogonal, Rapid Spin!" Rukia said. The two pokemon went on the attack and it seemed like they had Ralts. Just when they were about to hit, Ralts teleported away and was gone. It also caused the two pokemon to crash against each other.

"It's gone again!" Gilbert complained. "It always does this. Every time I even get close to catching it, Ralts uses Teleport and manages to escape."

"That is a problem." Rukia said as she looked around and didn't see it anywhere. "There's no way of knowing where that Ralts is teleporting too."

"Darn it. This Ralts is quick on its feet." Ichigo said. "Maybe we should have all of our pokemon on the attack to make sure it doesn't escape."

"It doesn't matter how many pokemon we use if that Ralts can just teleport." Chad said. "As long as it can teleport, it can keep escaping."

"What about using Jynx? Jynx can teleport too." Orihime said.

"That's true, but if we don't know where Ralts is teleporting, it would a difficult chase." Rukia said. "We need a way to keep that Ralts from teleporting away."

"How are we going to do that?" Gilbert questioned. Rukia tried to think of a way to stop that Ralts from teleporting. As she put some thought to it, she thinks she might found the answer with Misdreavous.

"That's it! Gilbert, does Misdreavous know Mean Look?" Rukia said.

"Mean Look?" Gilbert questioned. "I believe so, but I'm not really sure what it does."

"Mean Look is just what we need." Rukia said. "Mean Look is an attack that prevents a pokemon from running away. If we can use it on Ralts, Ralts can't escape. When she said that, they all believe they may have found the answer.

"That's perfect, Rukia. All that's left for us to do is get that Ralts to come back." Ichigo said. Now that they have a plan, they just need to put it into action.

...

Later

Knowing Misdreavous knows Mean Look is the key element to putting this plan into action. All that they need to do is get Ralts to return, and they have a way to do that. They placed out pokemon food in hopes that Ralts would be attracted to the scent.

"You really think that food might work?" Gilbert asked as they all hid in the bushes.

"I'm positive. The recipe says that it's great for psychic-type pokemon." Rukia said. "We just need to wait for Ralts to show up."

"Quiet. I think I hear something." Ichigo said. They all got quiet and waited for Ralts to show itself. They watched carefully and they saw Ralts coming out. It looked like it was working as Ralts walked over to the food and was starting to eat it. "It's working!"

"Quick, use Mean Look before it escapes again." Rukia said.

"Right. Misdreavous, Mean Look!" Gilbert ordered.

"Misdreavous!" Misdreavous' eyes glowed and unleashed a wave that flowed through Ralts. Ralts was surrounded by a dark aura and was shivering from a fearful feeling. Ralts tried teleporting away, but nothing was working.

"It worked! Mean Look is keeping Ralts from leaving!" Rukia said. "Ralts can't leave until the battle is over."

"Now is your chance! Battle it to weaken it and then catch it!" Ichigo said.

"Right! You're mine this time! Misdreavous, Shadow Ball!" Gilbert said as he felt confident. Misdreavous formed a dark orb and launched it at Ralts, but Ralts was able to use Protect and stopped the attack. "There's nowhere for you to run, and you can't play defense, Ralts. Misdreavous, Shadow Ball again!" Misdreavous used the same attack and it hit with Ralts being knocked down. "That should do it!" He was getting ready to catch it, but Ralts wasn't finished yet. Ralts' shadow stretched out until it reached under Misdreavous.

"Oh no! Is that what I think it is?!" Rukia said as she didn't like this. The shadow stretched out from under and struck Misdreavous hard. Misdreavous was taken out in one hit. When the battle was over, Ralts had a good laugh and teleported away.

"What just happened?" Gilbert said.

"That Ralts knew Shadow Sneak, a ghost-type move. Ghost-types are strongly effected by other ghost-types." Rukia said.

"Oh man. I thought he had it that time." Ichigo said.

"Now what do we do? It's getting late and the sun will be going down soon." Orihime said. It seemed hopeless at this point.

"I guess there's really nothing more I can do." Gilbert said as he was finally giving up. "I've ran out of time. I don't want to miss my daughter's birthday. It looks like the only thing to do is pack my stuff and head home."

"We're really sorry, Gilbert." Orihime said.

"Thank you. I just hate that I'm going to let her down." Gilbert said. "She would have loved to have that Ralts."

"It might not be so bad. You still got Misdreavous." Rukia said.

"Yeah. Misdreavous is a pretty pokemon. I'm sure she'll love it just as much." Orihime said. At least there was a silver lining to it. As much as Gilbert wanted to please his daughter, there isn't really much more he can do. What he didn't know was that Ralts was closer than they thought and heard everything.

...

Gilbert's House

Ichigo and the others escorted Gilbert back to his house. When they got there, they could see his wife working on the flowers.

"I'm home!" Gilbert called to get his wife's attention.

"Honey! You're back!" His wife said as she was happy to see him. His daughter was close by and spotted him.

"Daddy!" Gilbert's daughter called as she hurried to see him. Ichigo and the others stepped back to let the little family reunion. "You made it!"

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart." Gilbert said.

"I was afraid you weren't going to make it." Gilbert's daughter said. "Did you managed to catch me a Ralts?"

"I'm really sorry, honey." Gilbert said. That alone was enough to tell his daughter that he failed. "I tried my best, but I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry that you're disappointed."

"It's okay." Gilbert's daughter said. Not the reaction he was expecting. "I was worried you weren't going to make it back in time for my birthday, but you did." He was expecting his daughter to be mad or upset, but she was handling this a lot better than he thought. "Besides, you did bring this cute Misdreavous."

"Misdreavous!" Misdreavous was also happy to be part of the family as Gilbert's daughter hugged it.

"We should get going." Ichigo said.

"We're sorry you never got that Ralts." Orihime said.

"It's fine. I do thank you for all your help." Gilbert said.

"Well, enjoy yourselves." Rukia said as they all hit the road once again to let the family enjoy their little reunion with each other.

You might not be able to catch every pokemon. We're bound to face some disappointments in life, but that's what makes us appreciate what we do have. Of course, our heroes miss that things have a way of working out for the better.

As Gilbert and his family were glad to be brought back together, Misdreavous spotted something that was quite a surprise.

"Is something wrong, Misdreavous?" Gilbert asked.

"Ralts!" They all looked and saw Ralts standing there. Looks like Ralts ended up being part of the family after all.

To Be Continued...

Pokemon Question: Okay, all you trainers. The answer to the last question was...Togetic. Togetic showers happiness to those who are kindhearted. Here's the next question. What pokemon is to believe to came to Earth on stars and is said to be a star reborn?